Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis In ancient times, faeries' forms were as mutable as dreams themselves. An echo of this power has been passed down as the Art of Metamorphosis. With it, princes have been turned into toads, children into swans and young kings into damn-near-anything. While not exclusively a commoner Art, it nevertheless was used extensively in the days after the Shattering, when skillful hiding amongst mortals meant the difference between life and death. This Art turns a living creature into another living creature, therefore, a fairy godmother could turn mice into horses, but to change a pumpkin into a carriage or a man into a chair would require Primal. The base duration for a Metamorphosis cantrip is one turn; successes beyond those required for the effect may be used to enhance the duration (see chart below). For example, with five successes the character using Impersonate (Metamorphosis ··) may look like a troll for one hour, or a perfect likeness of a specific troll for one turn. * 1 success -- One minute * 2 successes -- One hour * 3 successes -- Twelve hours * 4 successes -- One day * 5 successes -- Three days Spending a temporary point of Glamour will add one level to the cantrip's duration; i.e., one minute becomes one hour. The use of Metamorphosis on an unwilling target is automatically resisted. The target rolls Banality (difficulty 6) and may spend a willpower for an additional success. Unless the caster exceeds these successes, the cantrip fails. Attribute: Stamina · Hidden Form (Fool's Luck, pg. 76) This cantrip allows the changeling to camouflage herself or another living being with the play of light, shadow and color on her body. This is especially effective in woods or other places with a broken landscape of darkness and light. Note that this cantrip only affects vision; going unseen doesn't necessarily equate with going unheard. System: Difficulties to spot the changeling are increased by 3. The number of successes indicates the cantrip's duration. This cantrip varies from the Chicanery cantrip Veiled Eyes in that since it is physical invisibility rather than mental camouflage, cameras are also affected. ·· Impersonate (power has been modified for balance &/or setting) (Fool's Luck, pg. 76) With this cantrip, the Changeling can alter her appearance to look like another person or kith; it doesn't bestow any of the powers or birthrights of that person (e.g., impersonating a master nocker gives you neither his skill at chimera forging nor his highly-developed Arts). The target will sound (more or less) like the intended target, but some skill in acting may be required to pass more than a cursory inspection. System: Successes determine the fineness of detail. The Art paints with broad strokes, as it were, before concentrating on details, so in order to appear like a specific person of the recipient's own kith, five successes are still required. * 1 success -- Vaguely like another kith (You're sort of bluish). * 2 successes -- Could pass for the kith if they aren't paying attention (You look like a short, overweight troll.) * 3 successes -- Most of the details are accurate. (You're a troll.) * 4 successes -- Looks similar to a specific person. (You're Lyros' older Unseelie cousin.) * 5 successes -- Nearly a perfect image of a specific person (General Lyros, sir!) Remember that the size must be similar to the caster's unless Go Ask Alice is also used. ··· Go Ask Alice (power has been modified for balance &/or setting) (Fool's Luck, pg. 76) This is one of the reasons the fae are also known as "The Little People." Since it is much easier to hide from prying mortal eyes when there is less of you to see, changelings would often shrink themselves to small size. Some freeholds were built with entrances too small for normal-sized mortals to squeeze through, making the hold an inviolate sanctuary for those who possessed this cantrip. System: The number of successes determines size. This can be cast multiple times to alter size or duration even further, so that 10 successes could make the recipient breadbox-sized for three days. As with Impersonate, Go Ask Alice can alter the size of the mortal seeming as well as the fae mien. Be warned that a 30-foot giant will almost certainly suffer Banality's effects should any mortals see him. * 1 success -- 3/4 or 1 1/2 times normal size. * 2 successes -- 1/2 or 2 times normal size. * 3 successes -- 1/4 or 2 1/2 times normal size. * 4 successes -- 1/8 or 3 times normal size. * 5 successes -- 1/16 or 3 1/2 times normal size. ···· Merlin's Lessons (Fool's Luck, pg. 77) Fairy tales are full of princesses turning into birds, princes changing into toads, witches becoming cats and peasants turning into newts (don't worry, they'll get better). This cantrip is how the fae performed such feats. System: Successes determine duration. For an additional point of Glamour, natural advantages and powers can be bestowed -- for instance, a changeling turned into a bat could fly and echolocate. Go Ask Alice is required to dramatically alter mass. ····· Mythic Transformation (power has been modified for balance &/or setting) One of the most powerful yet dangerous cantrips modern changelings can know, Mythic Transformation can change the fae into a full-blown creature of legend such as a dragon, manticore, or firebird. The changeling in essence becomes a creature of the Dreaming, with all the strengths and weaknesses of that beast. The changeling who becomes a dragon, for example, may be able to fly and breathe fire, but may also be subject of extreme avarice and carry a fatal flaw in his armor. Likewise, a changeling in a unicorn's form may be able to heal with his horn, but would have an aversion to "impure" people. Powers and frailties are subject to the Storyteller's discretion. The dangers of using this are many. Because the changeling is an actual mythic creature, Banality slowly eats away at their very substance. The changeling loses Glamour at the rate of one per hour. Once his Glamour pool reaches zero, he loses Health Levels at the same rate. Once if the character ever loses their last health level, they return to their normal form. Further, if a sufficiently skeptical mortal sees the changeling, the changeling may be cast into a random point of the Dreaming in the same way chimera may be. System: This is a very powerful but costly cantrip. For the transformation to be complete (i.e. to gain all the powers and frailties of the mythic beast), the changeling must sacrifice a permanent point of Glamour in addition to any other Glamour costs; otherwise the character merely takes the form of the beast. Go Ask Alice is required to drastically alter size. Unlike most cantrips, the Realm Fae 3 must always be included (as you are transforming the target into, for all intents and purposes, a chimera), though the primary Realm is determined by the target transformed. The successes achieved on the cantrip can be used to determine specific mechanics for features gained. ‘Spend’ the successes as described below. Otherwise, the effects of the transformation can be left to ST discretion Effects: * Movement options (flight, water breathing, up to double running speed etc.) – No successes * Natural Armor – 4 levels per success * Natural Attack -- deals 3 levels Lethal damage per success * Physical Attributes – 6 dots per success * Extra limbs – 1 additional action per round per success.